This invention relates to an electronic timepiece, and more particularly to one whose design and arrangement affords a viewer thereof with information of time and calender.
In recent months electronic timepieces, watches which have a fundamental departure from the traditional mechanical escapement both as to keeping time and displaying same, have found a demand in the market place. The breakthrough that has played more of a part in this than anything else is the development of CMOS technology that has enabled manufacturers to produce such timepieces for consumers that have low power consumption, are small in size and weight and have a long life to say little of the lowering cost advantages as this technology blossoms in its marriage with the techniques of integration into a commercially acceptable package.
One of the problems of manufacturing such timepieces, as this invention is directed to, noted in the past, in attempting to use displays of an electronic nature, has been in arriving at an oscillator- frequency converter combination having not only the required frequency stability, but, as mentioned above, to permit use of the small batteries as the power source.
Efforts to solve these conditions for a commercially accetable battery powered wristwatch have been derived to employ four major components, namely a time base, a time computer, a miniature battery power source and an electronic display means. All but the display means have been standarized basically by all manufacturers. The difference of opinion as to displays centers about personal choices of a continuous display or a display that is active on call so-to-speak. The time base that is pretty much the standard now is a frequency oscillator vibrating at 32,768H.sub.z. The time computor that is likewise widely accepted is one that will divide this high frequency down to 1 pulse per second by using a multistage integrated circuit binary counter with means to count the pulse train, encode it into binary form and then decode and process the result for the display of information of time including information of date.
It has been noted in all designs for such timepieces to date that it has been necessary to reprogram the watches displaying date information at the conclusion of each month having less than 31 days.
It is a principle object of this invention to improve the circuitry in such aforementioned timepieces to economize manufacture and provide more information therefrom than heretofore deemed possible.
It is the object of this invention to improve upon the electronic timepieces aforedescribed by providing complete calender information in such a way that the time computor has a memory program to avoid setting at the conclusion of any 1 month, which computor is improved to provide calender information of the day of the week, month and year in addition to the day of the month.
It is a further object of this invention to improve such timepieces as afore-described whereby it may be used as a 12 hr. or 24 hr. timepiece.
A still further object of this invention is to provide an electronic timepiece with means to activate the display thereof to illustrate the day and month numerically or alphabetically.
It is also an object of this invention to provide appropriate CMOS means with the ability to provide all these functions of the foregoing objects which may be universally used in installations calling for some or any part of the information and means of display thereof.